New chief eager to join town

Chief Jack Chandler III HOLDEN - West Boylston Fire Chief Jack Chandler III has been appointed Holden's newest fire chief, filling the vacancy left by former Chief Edward Stark Jr. who resigned in early June.

Chandler will start Sunday, October 1, in time for the police and fire department's annual Public Safety Day at the police and fire stations. Chandler will attend the fire station's open house.

"I'm looking forward to it," Chandler said about his new job during a recent interview at the West Boylston Fire Station. "There are a lot of opportunities."

Chandler, 53, is a Sterling resident, the father of three Wachusett Regional High School graduates, and the grandfather of four. He's busily preparing for his transition after 29 years of experience in emergency services, the last seven years serving as chief in West Boylston.

Chandler began his firefighting career in high school as a call member in Hebron, Maine, a town of about 750 people. The school ran the fire department, which only had two engines at that time, he recalled.

After graduating from Babson College, Chandler moved to Sterling in 1975 and became a call firefighter and emergency medical technician. By his estimation he's taken 40 or 50 firefighting classes and workshops both locally and at the state academy. He worked his way through the ranks in Sterling to become a deputy fire chief, while working full-time in Fitchburg at Avery Dennison.

"It was just a hobby until seven years ago," Chandler said about firefighting.

Chandler's private sector experience includes 16 years managing logistics and operations, as well as managing an Avery Dennison manufacturing plant that generated $50 million in sales and had 150 employees. As part of his duties there, he supervised the construction of a 20,000square-foot warehouse and office addition.

Looking for a career change and on a dare from a friend, Chandler applied for the open West Boylston fire chief's position.

Chandler originally thought his appointment would be short-lived, maybe spanning a couple of years.

"It's become a new career," he said with a smile. "It wasn't anything I planned on doing. But, it worked out well for me.

Chandler was attracted to Holden because of the larger department and the professional challenge it presents.

The West Boylston Fire Department has four full-time firefighters and 36 call members. Holden has eight fulltimers and approximately 36 call members. However, West Boylston's full-timers also carry ambulance duties since the town provides its residents with town-based Advanced Life Support ambulance service.

Holden is under contract with the privately run American Medical Response ambulance company.

"My time at West Boylston was a great growing experience," Chandler said. "When I started I was the only fulltime person. About six months after I started we hired the first full-timer, who later became a paramedic. Over the last seven years we grew to the four full-time personnel that we have currently.

"When I stared I was a very hands-on chief going on all ambulance calls and fire calls," he continued. "As we added more people I have been able to work on more administrative tasks such as grants and regionalized activities. Over the past two years West Boylston has done very well with state and federal grants receiving almost $200,000 in equipment. We have also worked with area towns to create Regional Emergency Planning Committees and Regional Citizen Emergency Response Teams, which I hope to get Holden involved with in the near future."

Chandler said the first six months will include getting to know Holden and the department's members and its procedures.

He also plans to research the town's past public safety building project proposals.

Chandler said he'd like to see another proposal come before voters at the May annual town meeting.

The town's Public Safety Building Committee disbanded over the summer after a debt exclusion question seeking funding for a combined fire/police/emergency services facility failed at the ballot box. While the need for a new facility is recognized, a new committee has not yet been formed as the town awaited the appointment of a new fire chief.

"It's clear that the town needs some major overhaul" on the public safety building end of things, said Chandler, who served as chairman of Sterling's Building Needs Committee that oversaw construction of new police and fire stations in that town. He also served as a member of West Boylston's Public Safety Building Needs Committee, and on a town-wide committee that studied all West Boylston's buildings.

"It needs to be done right away, but we shouldn't rush it," Chandler said. "It's got to be done right."

He thinks Holden needs to examine whether a townoperated ambulance service would be more beneficial and make more financial sense for the town.

Chandler said he plans to run a progressive department that will stay on top of new technology, training and firefighting services and skills.

After nearly 10 years as Holden's chief, Ed Stark retired on June 9 to work for the Yellowstone National Park Service as a fire-tech lookout on Mt. Washburn.

Former Fire Chief Edward Oberg, whom Stark replaced as chief, was appointed as interim until a permanent replacement was named.

In late July, Town Manager Brian Bullock said the town received 13 applications for the permanent fire chief position, most from candidates in central Massachusetts. A five-person interview panel reviewed the applications, narrowing the field down to three finalists. Bullock interviewed the finalists before hiring Chandler.

Bullock noted that Chandler's experience in successfully managing a combined call and full-time department, his work with building needs assessment, design and construction, and his ambulance management experience set him apart from the other candidates.

"Jack is the right person for this job, for this town, at this time," he said.